The “great and the good” should speak up for our NHS – but remember those who speak and vote against it

From Letters page, Guardian: remember it was Paul Diviani and Sarah Randall Johnson that took Honiton and Seaton hospitals from us.

• “I was thrilled to read Professor Stephen Hawking’s glowing tribute to our “finest public service”. At 75 years of age and a world-class scientist known by everyone in the country, Professor Hawking is in a perfect position to state his case for the prosecution of the Tories and Jeremy Hunt in particular, for their mendacity over what they say they are doing for the NHS, while undermining it by cuts, underfunding and demoralisation of staff, as well as introducing privatisation for years without proclaiming their real aim, which is to destroy the NHS and replace it with a US-style insurance system controlled by multinational companies.

Many ordinary patients like me have protested to our local MPs over the years about the political decisions the Tories have made to ultimately scrap the NHS, and their relentless pursuit of the drip-drip methods of convincing people that we cannot afford the NHS any more. This is a total lie, and I would like other well-known people who value and cherish the NHS to come out and say so before it’s too late.

Nye Bevan said the NHS would exist only as long as people were willing to fight for it. Let’s hear it from the great and the good in support of the treasure in our midst.